ODU falls 47-10 at Maryland in debut against ACC team

The Sports Xchange

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The big guys never gave the little guys a break.

Old Dominion's upset bid at Maryland on Saturday afternoon never materialized. The Monarchs, transitioning from the Football Championship Series to the Bowl Series, will have to wait another weekend for a win as C.J. Brown again delivered for Maryland.

The Terrapins (2-0) dominated from start to finish in a 47-10 rout at Byrd Stadium before 38,377 spectators. Maryland has scored more than 40 points in back-to-back games for the first time in program history, and the Terps went over 500 yards for the second week (587).

Three Old Dominion turnovers in the first half and a big-play Maryland offense took some of the starch out of the Monarchs.

Brown completed 14-of-22 passes for 275 yards and two scores, and he ran for two more touchdowns. The junior, who missed the 2012 season with a knee injury, has accounted for nine touchdowns in his first two games this season and decisively won his matchup with Old Dominion QB Taylor Heinicke, who set several FCS passing records last season.

"Our defensive coaches came up with a plan we felt could be best," said Maryland coach Randy Edsall. "Basically we played a dime scheme with six defensive backs and we got our best front four in terms of speed and athleticism out there. That said (Heinicke) drove us nuts with the scrambling. I'm most proud that we kept them out of the end zone (when Heinicke was in)."

Heinicke passed ODU downfield to an early field goal. Jarod Brown hit from 35 yards to tie the game at 3 with 7:55 left in the first quarter. From there, though, it was all Maryland, which scored four first-half touchdowns to take a 31-3 lead.

Maryland went on to score 44 unanswered points before tailback Cam Boyd scored on a late 3-yard run for ODU's touchdown with about five minutes left. The Monarchs finished with 335 yards of total offense and were nearly even in time of possession, Maryland with a slight edge at 30:27.

"We haven't had a lot of adversity as a football program," said ODU coach Bobby Wilder. "We haven't been beaten like this. The way I described it to our team in the locker room after the game is adversity really defines your character. We'll find out what we're made of tomorrow."

Maryland tailback Brandon Ross rushed for a career-high 149 yards on 18 carries. He had 126 yards in the first half, including a 5-yard scoring run that put Maryland up for good with 5:18 left in the first quarter.

Heinicke then fired his second interception of the game to set up Brown's 5-yard score just two plays later, putting the Terrapins up 17-3.

Heinicke, who hit 18-of-34 passes for 166 yards and three interceptions, drove the Monarchs 72 yards, but linebacker Marcus Whitfield deflected a pass that wound up in the arms of defensive end Yannick Ngakoue at the 8-yard line.

Without starting cornerback Jeremiah Johnson (foot) and rebuilding in the front seven, Maryland's defense produced turnovers on three of ODU's first four possessions, including an interception by cornerback Isaac Goins, making his first start. Freshman defensive back Will Likely led the Terps with 11 tackles.

The Terrapins kept Heinicke and the high-octane ODU offense off balance all day with a changing defensive look featuring extra defensive backs and linebackers and few down linemen. Heinicke, last year's winner of the Walter Payton Award as the top FCS player, was sacked four times.

Maryland used 260-pound redshirt freshmen defensive end Roman Braglio at nose tackle much of the day, again the emphasis on speed.

"They have a good defensive scheme, a bunch of twists, a bunch of stunts on the front seven and their secondary is very fast, very smart," said Heinicke, who had his lowest yardage output in two seasons. "I feel like this is the best defense we've faced."

Brown drove the Terps 97 yards in nine plays on a back-breaking second-quarter drive. He hit Stefon Diggs on a swing pass that the nimble wide receiver turned into a spectacular 41-yard touchdown and 24-3 Maryland lead. Diggs caught six passes for a career-best 179 yards and the score.

The Terrapins' advantage went to 31-3 when tailback Albert Reid went 27 yards on his first carry just 1:33 before the half.

The Monarchs dropped to 0-2 for the first time in the five-year history of their program. ODU was 11-2 in 2012, earning a No. 4 seed in the FCS playoffs.

Old Dominion moved into provisional FBS play this year as a new member of the Conference USA. The Terrapins are in their final season as a member of the ACC before moving into the Big Ten next year.

Heinicke gave way to redshirt freshman Dave Washington late in the third quarter, and Washington led the touchdown drive.